21 Selfless Strangers & Their Acts Of Kindness That Proved Our World Isn't All That Bad
Every good deed leaves a mark in the world. A mark of kindness.
One of the greatest things in life is to extend a helping hand and perform an act of compassion that helps another human being, or even an animal. Whether it's offering your love or time or money, the waves of good deeds reach out far and wide, creating ripples of positive change.
Today, we look at 21 examples of good deeds that inspired us deeply.
1. Mumbai doctor who runs a free tiffin service for the elderly
Dr. Uday Modi brings free food to the elderly who have been abandoned by their own children. His service, that runs in Bhayandar, Mumbai, feeds close to 500 old people daily.
His kitchen that is aptly named 'Shravan Tiffin Service' ¡ª after the obedient son Shravan Kumar from Hindu mythology ¡ª distributes 200 tiffins across the city. Meals for diabetic patients are cooked in a separate kitchen.
2. Photojournalist who dropped his camera to save a girl's life in Kashmir
Dar Yasin, an Associated Press photographer, made headlines after he cast his camera aside to save an 18-year-old girl who was injured during the stone pelting incident in Kashmir.
FACEBOOK/FAISAL KHAN
Yasin was on duty when he saw the girl, Khusboo Jan bleeding profusely. After no one came forward to help her, Yasin picked up the girl and rushed her to the hospital.
3. Photographer in Syria who put down his camera to save an injured boy
Photojournalist and activist, Abd Alkader Habak was hailed a hero when this photo went viral on the internet.
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While on an assignment in Syria, Abd was rendered unconscious when a food truck was bombed, killing over 60 people. After coming to senses, Abd immediately began helping the injured. That's when he picked up a badly wounded boy and took him to an ambulance.
4. London marathoner who stopped metres away from the finish line to help struggling runner
A marathon runner in London, Matthew Rees helped an exhausted competitor David Wyeth cross the finish line that considerably increased his own run time.
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Rees was metres away from crossing the finish line when he stopped to support Wyeth who had tired out during the race. Together they finished the marathon in 2 hours, 52 minutes and 26 seconds.
5. Texas woman who gave an abandoned and homeless man a new lease of life
A woman in Texas launched a Facebook page that went a long way in providing a new life to a homeless man. Ginger Sprouse met Victor Hubbard - a patient of mental illness - on a street corner where he waited daily to reunite with his mother who had abandoned him.
Volunteers on Ginger¡¯s Facebook page, ¡®This Is Victor¡¯, helped him get shelter, medical appointments, and a job as a chef after he spent three years as a homeless man.
6. Bengaluru marathoner who stopped his run mid-way to help an accident victim
While running a marathon in Bengaluru, Kannan Sundararajan stopped mid-way to help an accident victim on the other side of the road. After seeing the dismal condition of the ambulance, Sundararajan accompanied the victim, Kiran Yadav to the hospital.
Sundararajan even raised funds for Yadav's surgery and vowed to participate in 42 marathons till the age of 42 with an aim to promote awareness on road safety.
7. British doctor who crowdfunded a surgery for a boy from Madhya Pradesh
13-year-old Mahendra was born with a physical disability where his head hung at an 180-degree angle. Living a struggled life, the boy found his messiah in Julie Jones, a British doctor who crowdfunded ?12,000 for his life-saving surgery.
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Once the funds reached India, Dr. Rajagopalan Krishan of Apollo Hospital conducted a 10-hour-long surgery on Mahendra. The boy no longer has a bent head hindering his development.
8. Bahrain's Prime Minister who donated money to Odisha man, Dana Majhi
In a humanitarian gesture that highlighted India's inadequacy to do so, the Bahraini Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa donated money to Dana Majhi and his family. Majhi had walked 12 km with his dead wife's body on his shoulders after failing to receive ambulance support.
Indian Express/gulf news
Prince Khalifa had contacted the Indian embassy in Bahrain and donated an undisclosed amount of money.
9. New Jersey woman who donated a part of her liver to the girl she babysits
Kiersten Miles, a 22-year-old resident of New Jersey, recently donated a part of her liver to Talia, a toddler who she babysits. Talia wouldn't have survived her condition without a transplant. Miles very generously offered to donate a part of her own organ which saved Talia's life.
Miles is now raising awareness about organ donation in a bid to help others save lives.
10. Jamshedpur student who donated her pocket money for building of toilets
Mondrita Chatterjee, a class seven student, emptied her treasure bucket and donated Rs. 24,000 toward the construction of toilets for which she was awarded at the National Summit on Health and Wellness 2017.
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Her donation will now be used in building toilets in Kendradih village - where the population of 350 people lives without hygiene facilities - on the outskirts of Telco town in Jamshedpur.
11. Kolkata cab driver who donated blood to his passenger's kin
Apu Shaw, a cabbie with Ola, had donated blood to a passenger's relative who was suffering from dengue. Vivek Saraf had hailed Shaw's cab on a night when his relative needed urgent transfusion.
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After seeing Saraf's plight, Shaw had immediately offered to help.
12. Kerala bishop who donated his kidney to a Hindu man
Mar Jacob Murickan, who is an Auxiliary Bishop of the Pala Diocese, donated his kidney to a 30-year-old man who didn't have enough means to receive a transplant. The donation made Jacob the first serving bishop to offer an organ while alive.
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After calling it a 'simple sacrifice for a fellow being', Jacob added, "Only by allowing harvesting an organ from our body can we become a model for others."
13. Uber driver who gave a drunk girl ride back home
Cab drivers can either make rides comfortable or unpleasant. But very few drivers go out of their way to help drunk girls they pick up from bars reach home safely. So when this Uber driver decided to drive a hammered girl home, he inadvertently became a listener of this heartbreaking story.
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The Uber driver drove her around as she asked, offered her a vomit bag, and then dropped her home safe and sound. But her story broke something inside of him for he couldn't keep his emotions in control.
14. Ahmedabad man who performed last rites of 550 unclaimed bodies
Mithalal Sindhi has lived on the footpath for nearly 60 years but he is not the one to complain. In fact, he knows humanity better than most of us. The selfless man has performed over 550 funerals of unclaimed bodies which he calls a 'beautiful activity'.
HUMANS OF AMDAVAD
83-year-old Sindhi happily bears all funeral expenses of the bodies himself by selling bajra on the streets.
15. Oregon man who rescued a dying bear cub while hiking
Corey Hancock was out hiking when he stumbled upon a dying bear cub in the Cascade foothills. When he couldn't find the cub's mother and saw that it was not breathing, he decided to carry the animal to an animal centre after reaching out for help on Facebook.
inside edition via youtube
Hancock's decision saved the cub's life at the cost of jail time, for interfering in wildlife was a punishable offence. Luckily, Hancock escaped with a warning.
16. Differently-abled man who performed 'seva' on Gurupurab
In Sikhism, karseva or 'selfless service' is seen as a direct communion with the Almighty. Even though he was differently-abled, an elderly man overcame his physical shortcomings and perfromed seva on the auspicious occasion of Gurupurab.
His face showed no signs of struggle; what it showed was a calm born out of selfless service.
17. Woman who saved a police officer's life from an attacker in Louisiana
Vickie Williams-Tillman became a hero for Baton Rouge police department after she stopped an attacker from assaulting a police officer. Vickie had called 911 but before help could arrive, the attacker had started beating the officer with his own baton.
WAFB
Without wasting more time, she climbed on to the attacker's back and held him off the policeman till other officers arrived at the scene.
18. Young girl who gave her meal to a homeless man
8-year-old Ella Scott couldn't turn a blind eye to a homeless man who looked 'hungry and helpless'. Deciding to help him, the young girl offered him her own food. Dining at a California restaurant, Scott stood up from her table after noticing the man and brought her plate of steak and potatoes outside to offer it to the man, David Salkowski.
Eddie Scott
The girl, who loves helping out the homeless, often asks her dad to offer them money.
19. Mumbai vada pav seller who donated money to drought-hit farmers
Mangesh Ahiwale, a vendor in Mumbai who sells vada pav, donated a sum of Rs. 20,000 to the Maharashtra CM's Relief Fund in order to help out the farmers in the drought-hit state.
Ahiwale donated his one day salary to help drought-hit farmers in the Marathwada and Vidarbha regions. He slashed the price of his vada pav and instead of selling it at the price of Rs. 12, Ahiwale sold the snacks at Rs. 5 which helped him collect the money in time.
20. Muslim woman from Australia who donated $1 for every hate tweet she received
Few people take the hate they receive and turn it into something good. Susan Carland, who identifies herself as a Muslim, decided to donate $1 to UNICEF every time someone hurled a racist abuse at her.
It's surprising the number of hate comments she got on Twitter because Carland donated over $1,000 dollars to the UNICEF!
21. 8-year-old girl who donated her savings to drought-hit farmers
Nagpur resident Rashika Joshi, 8, donated her pocket savings to help drought-hit farmers. After getting inspired by actor Aamir Khan - who had earlier offered donations to the farmers - Jain simply couldn't sit idle and do nothing.
All hail these heroes who inspire us with their acts of humanity. Whether it's helping humans or animals, there's only one lesson to be learned here and that is of selflessness.
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